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Issue #58 – Job Opportunities & Student Successes
by L. Swift and Jeff McQ
Joe Paciotti has always been something of a go-getter when it comes to his interests in filmmaking. “As a kid, I started out with a little Sony Handycam, messing around with one of my friends,” he says. “When I was nine, I was doing short films with my friends. By high school I took a couple of video production classes and pretty much became the main editor in my class.”
By the time he was 21, Joe had already started his own film company called JPac Productions, taking on a wide range of freelance projects for clients around the Philadelphia area where he lives. But Joe still felt like he needed to up his game—which is what led him to the Film Connection.
“I feel like I’m at the semi-pro level,” says Joe. “I wanted to join the program to give me that extra boost I needed. I figured this program would be a great way for me to gain connections and meet new people who have been doing it for years.”
To help Joe achieve his goals, the Film Connection paired him with mentor Nick Esposito of Backseat Conceptions, a pro-level Philadelphia-based production company that works with such clients as ESPN, The Learning Channel and HBO’s John Oliver, among others. Not long into his apprenticeship, Joe found himself thrown headlong into the inner workings of professional production as a member of the crew for But Deliver Us from Evil, a supernatural action movie with religious themes not unlike Constantine. To Joe, the opportunity to be part of a major production was a milestone. “I was wanting to get on set—that was my main goal from the beginning of this program,” he says. “It was great to finally get on set, really.”
For the first leg of production, Joe traveled with the team from Philly to Raleigh, NC on the “Backseat Bus,” a mobile production unit that Backseat Conceptions built into an actual school bus. While working in various roles on the set as a production assistant, Joe got what could arguably be described as a crash course in all aspects of production, both behind the scenes and on the set itself. “They would analyze pretty much every position,” he says. “I actually wrote down everything I’ve learned, and it’s a pretty long list. Basically I was able to learn every position, what I would and wouldn’t do…pretty much got a good idea of all the different equipment they use and things of that nature. Some of that equipment I look to eventually buy for my own business.” Among the things on his to-buy list: the Red camera, which the team was using to shoot the film. “I loved it,” he says. “Of course they are a little pricey, but they have the full rig, you know, the wireless focus and wireless monitors and all that, which is pretty cool.”
Joe says working on the set also helped him clarify his own interests as a filmmaker, and where he wants to put his focus, which is primarily on the production/directing side. “I got an idea of the things I wouldn’t want to do, and the things I would want to do,” he says. “Anything script related I kind of want to stay away from. But I definitely want to be in the camera department or eventually work my way up to director or assistant director, swing for positions in that category… Not that I’m a bad writer, but I would just rather stick to the production side.”
Now back in Philadelphia, Joe says he is staying busy finishing up his Film Connection apprenticeship while continuing to work on his own film business. With about seven different projects of his own currently in the works, he can already see how working with Nick Esposito and Backseat have helped to up his game. “Working with Backseat, I was able to take some of the ways they run things and incorporate it into my own business. Definitely helped me a lot so far.”
Perhaps just as important to Joe’s career are the relationships made along the way, as his apprenticeship has given him a stronger connection with the film community in general. He even hints at an ongoing relationship with his mentor after graduation. “Nick said there is going to be more in the future, that he plans to get me in the camera department, which will be nice,” he says.
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